Clinical Sales Training Programs

I had a question from one of my YouTube movie scenes this week from someone who is interested in getting into clinical sales and wanted to know if she should invest the time and money into a NAMSR (National Association of Medical Sales Representatives) training program. They (and many others you can discover online) offer laboratory sales training for various areas for fees that can range anywhere from $300-$1000, depending on your professional level and area of interest. You can then put that training certification on your resume, and (in theory) get a jump over other candidates. So, she wanted to know if I thought a clinical laboratory or pharmaceutical sales training program would be valuable for her.

On one hand, I think that all training is fine, and many people do it. I’ve had a candidate who invested $5000 of her own money for training. I personally don’t think anyone needs to invest that much, though. You do got to invest a lot of time and energy—read a lot (sales books, on motivation and technique), listen, ride along, work with some folks who have had that experience. But– is the training wonderful? Yes. Does it show initiative? Yep. Does it show commitment? Yes. I like all those things.

On the other side, it doesn’t really differentiate you from another candidate if, when you get on the phone or get to the interview, you’re not as strong as the other candidate. So, you might want to think about doing those things that will make you stronger than the other candidate when you interview. Polish your interview skills. Practice phone interviews. Have a 30/60/90-day sales plan.

I do provide custom consulting services as a medical sales recruiter, so that you can see what YOU need to shore up in your own situation to make the cut. Just this week, I helped someone who wants to be promoted to Regional Sales Manager within his company. He contacted me and purchased a little of my time this week for me to help him look at his CV and his 30-60-90 day sales plan and also to talk to him about how to handle certain interview queries. So, you might want to think about investing some time and money in that way, because an hour with someone like myself who can talk you through the interview process, who can role play with you, might be more beneficial than that training sticker is.

Because, when the rubber meets the road on the first phone interview with the headhunter, and the first phone interview with the company, if you don’t do well with those two things… it doesn’t really matter how well-trained you’re in any area of pharma sales, clinical sales, biotech sales, lab device sales, or medical sales.

Article courtesy of  Peggy McKee - Owner / Senior Recruiter at the nationally
recognized clinical and laboratory sales recruiting team of PHC Consulting.
© Copyright 2008 PHC Consulting | All rights reserved

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